Yep, plenty of great colored actresses in Hollywood.

but hey, race is still uncomfortable out here. I think Zacharek was trying to include all non-white actresses in Hollywood who are excellent actresses but don't have the vehicles or roles to showcase their talent. Take Lucy Liu for example. She's in a similar boat as Lathann.

Sounds like you're engaging in the same racial tics (assuming it's all about race) that Kenya's family and friends display. If this was NBC or Fox, I'd see where you get that. You're on Salon though.

Anyway, I'm excited about the movie. The Post loved it, Salon loved it, and my neighborhood weekly slammed it as being the worst kind of reverse racism out there (the reporter asked how comfortable would be the movie be if the races were reversed).

Good article. The only question I have is why a black woman's being afraid of a spider makes her like a white woman. I am black; and I, and my female black friends, would freak if a spider were in our hair. I hesitate to make too much of a casual aside in such a sweet-tempered and perceptive piece, but casual asides can often be very revealing of attitudes. I am always struck when I see the reflexive assignment of the supposed attributes of femininity to white women and something else --a sort of quasi-masculinity-- to black women (loud, abrasive, mean, sexually promiscuous); especially since I know this was one of the first projects of slavery, used to justify our hard labor and sexual availability to white men. I know the author did not consciously mean all this, but these are the things we Americans carry around in our heads and have to notice if we want to deal with them effectively.

>>The "white" black woman

Good article. The only question I have is why a black woman's being afraid of a spider makes her like a white woman. -- AG-R >>

I was thinking the same thing. Down to not wanted to make a big deal about it, but thinking it was pretty funny.

I'm white, spiders don't bother me a bit. But rodents...ack!

;)

Yup, interracial movies are a dime a dozen. We have Halle Berry and Billie-Bob Thorton, Lucy Liu and Matt LeBlanc, Ashton Kutcher and Zoe Saldana ... see a theme?

Oh yes, we do have Will Smith and Eva Mendes (oh wait, she's latina). Save the Last Dance had a black guy/white girl romance but not much evidence of any hanky panky going on. When was the last movie where there's even a suggestion of some sex? Jungle Fever (1991)? Is Denzel so ugly that no one wants to see him get it on with a caucasian actress?

Let's be real. Inter-racial dating in Hollywood movies is still a touchy subject (no pun intended) if it involves caucasian women, no matter how many times a movie critic claim that movie X shows it's no big deal anymore. I wouldn't go so far as to label it the old fear of black men and their savage urges (a la To Kill a Mockingbird and the bad old lynching days) but what then?

I'm asian but I use black actors as examples because it'll be even longer for that other breakthrough. There's more aliens than asians on TV, as they say. Well, there's Jet Li and Aaliyah, Jet Li and Carla Gugino. But he's still your average androgynous asian kung-fu killing machine so not exactly pushing boundaries.

As a final note. It's not just Hollywood flicks, of course. For example, in all the long years of say, Seinfeld or Friends, I recall the guys dating a few non-caucasian women here and there. Can't recall if any of the gals ever had Jungle/Yellow Fever though.

>>For example, in all the long years of say, Seinfeld or Friends, I recall the guys dating a few non-caucasian women here and there. Can't recall if any of the gals ever had Jungle/Yellow Fever though.>>

Yep. There was the time Elaine *thought* she was dating a (light-skinned) black guy and was so proud. (Ends up he was just white, and thought she was Latina and when they both figured out the other was a WASP too the attraction ended.)

I thought the article was well written, but these kinds of movies and subjects always make me wonder, why?

The fact that anyone must see anyone else as anything other than human is the reason why racism and classism will always be an issue. As long as we carry around the idea of someone being "different" than us in any other way aside from skin color, then our forced attempts at making either peace or war with other races will continue. If you were to ask a child whats the difference between a black woman and a white man, he or she would most likely say "she has dark skin and he has lighter skin". Thats about as far as the differences would go. Our preconceptions and cultural attitudes (or programming, as I call it) is what enables for stereotypes and racism to occur and continue.

Im not ignoring the issue of racism and class stereotypes because I am aware it definitely exists (which is what the movie appears to address according to the critics review), but its an issue that I feel is actually propagated by making movies like this. If a relationship between a black woman and a white man can be seen just as a relationship between a woman and a man, we can start breaking down these useless words and barriers. There is inequality still in this world, I know. How do we fix it? I dont think anything can fix it. It will need to dissolve with intelligence, the same way the idea of the sun revolving around the earth went away slowly even though Galileo proved it be so. The idea that anyone is anything other than a human being because of their skin color is obviously based out of thousands of years of fear and ignorance. But this ignorance has no choice but to dissolve. We may not see it in our life time, and whatever can be done in terms of correcting societal issues should continue. I have DEFINITELY had my share of stereotypes before. But they can be left behind in the evidence of actually meeting and living with people of all classes and cultures. This world is continually becoming more integrated, so how can stereotypes survive?

And for reference purposes, im a spanish man in a relationship with a swedish woman. Whether or not anyone see's us as that doesnt concern me. When I see her, I see her. Not a swedish woman. Loosening our own programmed perceptions is key. Society will follow.